Abundant Time for Production of our New Zealand Ingredients
Opposite to that of the northern hemisphere, New Zealand’s balmy summer starts around December and runs until February. You know that summer has arrived when the pōhutukawa trees start blooming, adding color to the northern coastline and signalling the arrival of Christmas. Flaxes are abundant in summer, bees pollinate manuka trees and kiwi vines are laden with delicious fruit.
New Zealand rainforests are one of the world’s most unique and unpolluted environments on Earth, where native plant species have evolved and diversified in geographic isolation over tens of millions of years.
Found unexpectedly by Polynesian settlers only a thousand years ago, New Zealand was the last large and habitable place in the world to be discovered.
More than 10,000 protected areas cover almost a third of the country, safeguarding stunning scenery, important ecosystems, and places of historic and scientific value. It's a wild and fresh environment with plant species found nowhere else on Earth.
It’s only when you visit the New Zealand rainforest that you truly get to experience its energising powers. Breathing its pure air, cooled by the Antarctic breeze and frequent rainfall, not only cleans your lungs but also brings oxygen to every cell in your body.
This pristine environment is the source of Ao Skincare’s nontoxic, active botanicals that feature across our skincare range. Our ingredients are pure and potent, and sustainably harvested with great care for the wilderness.
These are some of the key New Zealand botanicals that feature in our range, to deliver a powerful mixture of antioxidants and nutrients to your skin:
- Pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa): The bioactive extract from the crimson flowers of this native tree is conditioning, deeply moisturising, antioxidant-packed and antiseptic. It promotes cell regeneration and soft, youthful skin.
- Totara (Podocarpus totara): This endemic tree is not only powerful in appearance but also in biological composition. Totara extracts impart strength to your skin, neutralising the free radicals linked to skin ageing. It also has powerful antimicrobial and anti-blemish qualities, helping you achieve super-clean skin.
- Harakeke Flax (Phormium tenax): At the rainforests’ lower levels, growing where they emerge into the lowlands, New Zealand’s native flax yields an oil that deeply moisturises skin. Harakeke seed oil is rich in linoleic acid/omega 6 – an essential fatty acid for truly healthy skin.